Marco Müller, who last year sent his second 9a+, has repeated Shawn Raboutou’s Story of Three Worlds (8C+) in Cresciano. It is a left stand start, including a possible no-hands rest, to the classical The Dagger (8B+). ”Around nine hand moves and a bit more foot moves until you’re in the Dagger with my beta. Breakdown for me is: 8B boulder into the rest, then 8A boulder and then Dagger.” (c) Vivienne Augustin

Can you tell us more about the ascent and the sessions needed?
I started trying Story of Three Worlds at the beginning of January. The downward dyno is one of the most unique moves on rock I’ve ever tried! It felt surprisingly good and suited me well. The opening boulder, however, gave me trouble for quite some time. It’s a powerful, tensiony section on underclings with bad footholds. Once I figured out my own beta, I started making some good links. There’s a good kneebar rest in the middle of the boulder. I underestimated the core fatigue, despite the rest, and fell a couple of times in the final section “The Dagger.” Last weekend, I finally made it through the whole boulder with a proper fight.

I‘ve tried it for like 1-2 a week since the beginning of January, and then lots of sessions on Story of Two Worlds and Dagger a couple of years ago.

What is next?
I was actually projecting Captain Nemo (8C) in Val Bavona, but when the weather turned bad, I switched to “Story of Three Worlds”. It immediately got me hooked. I was hoping to get back on Nemo again soon.

Laura Rogora has repeated Adam Ondra’s Niobe in Arco, sending the route in just four attempts. The 24-year-old Italian now boasts 42 ascents graded 9a and harder, more than a dozen of which she completed in 2025 alone. In 2025, she also onsighted seven routes graded 8c and 8c+, giving her an onsight résumé stronger than that of any male climber. To cap off a standout season, Rogora claimed bronze at the Lead World Cup and was named Vertical-Life’s Climber of the Year 2025. (c) Andrea Camattari

Can you tell us more about the ascent and the beta you used?
I had watched Adam’s video, but not to check the betas. Basically, before starting I only knew that after the first chain there was a palm-move boulder. On my first go, I climbed the first pitch of 8a+/b and figured out the betas for the upper section. I think the first boulder suits my body measurements quite well, while the upper part is a bit more morpho, although I’m not sure whether I used the same betas as the other repeaters.

Eva Hammelmüller, who last year sent 15 routes 8c+ or 9a, has done WRC (9a) in Castillon, which is an 8a+ extension to Alien carnage (8c+). On the same day she also flashed BarjoLand (8b): ”Technically a flash because I belayed Felix in it yesterday, but felt more like an onsight :D didn’t know any of the holds and took me forever to understand the beta… so happy that I kept fighting until the anchor!” (c) Felix Mast

Can you tell us more about the process behind sending WRC?
January was mostly about surving uni, work, and intense training sessions, and I was so happy that I got to climb outside again! I focused mainly on power training during the last couple of weeks, so my endurance on the first day in Alien Carnage felt terrible. However, I got back into lead climbing pretty quickly and managed to send it on the next day! As we quite spontaneously decided to climb another day in Castillon, I was curious and checked out WRC - and fell three times at the very top… I thought I had to abandon the route, but a change in our plans allowed me to give it another try on my 4th day of climbing. Having no expectations, I found myself on top of this amazing climb! Somehow I also half-flashed, half-onsighted BarjoLand (8b) and sent Total Jobard (8b+) afterwards. Sometimes the best days are the ones you don’t expect at all. Maybe Friday the 13th is my new lucky day?

What is your plan for the spring?
My plans for spring are mainly to train hard and climb outside on weekends. I have a few projects around home that I’d like to focus on, but I haven’t planned a bigger trip in the near future.